Essays On Liberalism

Liberalism is the dominant ideology of our time, yet its character remains the subject of intense scholarly and political controversy. Debates about the liberal political tradition — about its history, its central philosophical commitments, its implications for political practice — lie at the very heart of the discipline of political theory. Many outstanding political theorists have contributed to the growing sophistication of these debates in recent years, but the original voice of Michael Freeden deserves particular attention. In the course of a body of work that spans over thirty years, Fre ... More

Liberalism is the dominant ideology of our time, yet its character remains the subject of intense scholarly and political controversy. Debates about the liberal political tradition — about its history, its central philosophical commitments, its implications for political practice — lie at the very heart of the discipline of political theory. Many outstanding political theorists have contributed to the growing sophistication of these debates in recent years, but the original voice of Michael Freeden deserves particular attention. In the course of a body of work that spans over thirty years, Freeden's iconoclastic contributions have posed important challenges to the dominant understandings of liberal ideology, history, and theory. Such work has sought to redefine the very essence of what it is to be a liberal. This book brings together an international group of historians, philosophers, and political scientists to evaluate the impact of Freeden's work and to reassess its central claims.

Bibliographic Information

Print publication date: 2012

Print ISBN-13: 9780199600670

Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2012

DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199600670.001.0001

Essay on liberalism

958 Words4 Pages

There is no guessing where the oligarchs stand. "All power and wealth to the oligarchy" is their motto. Those existing in the lower ranks of poverty are of no concern to the upper class, exploiting other members of society are what they do best. The tory we find at the other end of the scale. In tory society tradition rules; taking the group's well being rather than the individual is primary. Somewhere in the middle we have the liberals (some bleeding hearts, some not so much). Reason, rationality, logic, and thought are the theoretical source of legitimacy of the liberal. They believe that logic and intellect are infallible guides to action. Individualism is fundamental to the culture. Individual self-interest is assumed to be…show more content…

These projects are supposedly designed to assist in economic development, but which have often been associated with monumental environmental devastation and social dislocation.

Once these countries build up large external debts they cannot get credit or cash anywhere else and are forced to go to these institutions and accept whatever conditions are demanded of them. The poorest countries of the world owe more money to these two institutions than they do any other private or government institutions because most of these loans were so poorly designed that the borrowing countries have not reaped enough income to pay them back. Loan repayments are sucking crucial resources out of poor country budgets, and into the coffers of the rich world. Just as the liberals believed the poor just needed to adjust their attitudes toward a middle class way of thinking to enable them to succeed, so these agencies believed the superiority of western economic systems and cultures alone could save these poverty stricken countries. The lending institutions know these countries debts are so immense that repayment is impossible. The only sure result of their continuance of loaning is profit for themselves. In their struggle to make repayment countries have been forced to do anything that will lead to immediate profits. Unfortunately, this is often at the cost of long-term damage to the environment, i.e. clear-cutting